Salvaging a twisted bow?

[mike77]

A couple of years ago I went to DirtTime and made a short self bow, though I don't remember the wood species. I put it away and recently pulled it out to use it only to find that it had twisted and bent. I tried to take pics of it, but they didn't really show the condition. So my question is, is there any reason to not shoot it as is? Or is there a way to maybe straighten or untwist it?

[NWBowhunter]

It is very dangerous to shoot a bow a twisted limb. It may be possible to straighten it by using steam. There are no guarantees. Put a pot of water on to roiling boil.  Steam, just, the area of the twist. Then over straighten the limb in the area of the twist. You may need to build a jig to hold the limb in the position that is straight.

Jig can be a couple of 2x4's clamped together with the twist area solidly clamped.

After the bow limbs have dried and reset I would string with a longer string very light weight and test the tiller of the bow.

 

[mike77]

It is very dangerous to shoot a bow a twisted limb. It may be possible to straighten it by using steam. There are no guarantees. Put a pot of water on to roiling boil.  Steam, just, the area of the twist. Then over straighten the limb in the area of the twist. You may need to build a jig to hold the limb in the position that is straight.

Jig can be a couple of 2x4's clamped together with the twist area solidly clamped.

After the bow limbs have dried and reset I would string with a longer string very light weight and test the tiller of the bow.

Thank you. I assume it is dangerous because it could snap with the twisted forces?
I should have put this in originally, but the twist is along the length of the bow. In other words, the nocks are not aligned any more. The bend is sideways, so when held normally the nocks are offset from the handle.
Any suggestions on how to see problems with the tiller? When I made it I just couldn't see the problems that the instructor did and looking at online examples I can't either. The bow just looks fine to me.

[StickMan47]

Hey Mike that twist you are talking about isn't too bad of a thing as long as your string still lines up in the center of the bow or near center. Propeller twist is the bad one. too much and it could cause the bow to break or make for bad hand shock. Propeller twist is just what it says, if you looked at an airplane propeller from the end it twists around, same thing with a bow. If your bow twists from side to side when viewed from the belly then it may still be ok. There have been many selfbows made that are considered character bows with "snakey" limbs.

Do you know what type of wood it is made from? some woods work better with dry heat rather than steam. Most bowyers will use dry heat on dry or "seasoned" wood, which is what you have if your bow is a year old; steam is usually used on green wood.